1 Iran sanctions: The U.S. blacklisted Iran's state broadcasting authority, Internet-policing agencies and a major electronics producer on Wednesday, an action that widened the U.S. sanctions effort to pressure the Iranian government over not only its disputed nuclear program but also over the stifling of domestic dissent and access to information. The Treasury Department also announced the formal start of tightened restrictions, under a law passed last year, meant to severely inhibit Iran's already weakened ability to repatriate earnings from the sale of oil, its most important export.

2 Movable base: Researchers say that Britain's new Antarctic base will be movable - capable of sliding across the ice on ski-clad stilts. The innovation will enable researchers to keep one step ahead of the southern continent's shifting ice and pounding snows. The Halley VI Research Station is located on the Brunt Ice Shelf, a floating sheet of ice at the edge of the South Atlantic Ocean.

3 Whaling subsidies: A U.S. wildlife conservation group said in a report Wednesday that Japan has been propping up its whaling industry with nearly $400 million in tax money in recent years, stepping up subsidies even as most Japanese consumers have turned away from whale meat. International Fund for Animal Welfare in Yarmouth Port, Mass., challenges assertions by the Japanese government that whaling is a tradition with wide support among Japanese consumers. The report paints a picture of a struggling industry employing fewer than 1,000 people and dependent on public handouts.

4 "Baby Doc" crimes: International advocacy groups urged Haitian authorities on Wednesday not to drop a rights abuse case against former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier. Amnesty International and the Open Society Justice Initiative said in separate statements that it is imperative for the former ruler known as "Baby Doc" to be prosecuted for crimes allegedly committed while he was in office. Duvalier abruptly returned to his native Haiti in 2011 after 25 years in exile in France. Authorities opened an investigation into allegations of human rights abuses associated with his 15-year rule, but a judge recommended a year ago that Duvalier instead be indicted only on charges of embezzling public funds.

5 Murder conviction: A Colombian judge has convicted a former contractor for the U.S.-based Drummond coal mining company of murder for being the mastermind of the killing of two union leaders in 2001. The judge sentenced food services contractor Jaime Blanco to 37 years in prison. Blanco and several others allege that senior managers of Alabama-based Drummond Co. ordered the killings. Drummond officials say they are innocent of any involvement.

6 Oops! Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas referred to his Egyptian host by using the name of ousted President Hosni Mubarak and then upped the ante by thanking Morocco's King Mohammed V, who happens to be dead. After a warm introduction by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, Abbas expressed his thanks to "Mohammed Hosni" before quickly correcting himself and saying "Mohammed Morsi." Hours later, in the second session of an Islamic summit in Cairo, he expressed thanks to "King Mohammed V for your words" before being corrected by a smiling Moroccan official who reminded him that monarch had died and the current king is Mohammed VI.